GENERAL HISTORY. 



[101 



which having been explained at 

 the proper season by his prede- 

 ce:<sor, he should only recapitulate 

 with a- view of ])oiniing out the 

 amount of charge for which it 

 would be his duty to jirovide. 

 The exchequer bills funded and 

 the 5/. ])er cent, loan, amounted 

 together to 12,22l,:}25/. making 

 in 5/. per cent stock, a capital of 

 13,19^,031/. the interest of which 

 was (559,951/. and the sinking 

 fund 131,990/. making together 

 with the charge for management 

 795,901/. The rate of interest 

 on this sum was 5/. 8s, and the 

 total charge 6/. 10*. 2id. per cent. 

 The charge to the public, on the 

 whole money transactions of the 

 year, so far as they respected the 

 funded debt, was G/. IG*. 9c/. per 

 •cent and the total amount to 

 be provided for 1,905,924/. 



He now came to a most impor- 

 tant, but certaiidy the most painful 

 part of his duty ; that of proposing 

 taxes by which so large a sum was 

 to be defrayed. It was the more 

 unpleasant to him, as he had felt 

 it necessary, in this part of the 

 arrangement, to make a considera- 

 ble deviation from the plan of his 

 predecessor. Such a task afrorded 

 only an option of difficulties and 

 inconveniences, and he could, at 

 best, only hope that he had select- 

 ed such as were least obiectiona- 

 ble. 



The first article he had to pro- 

 pose was indeed one which ap- 

 peared to him liable to very little 

 objection, for it was in fact a tax 

 which would fall upon nobody 

 (a laugh,). Gentlemen might 

 smile, but if it was in other re- 

 . spects unobjectionable, he trusted it 

 would not l)e censured on that 

 account. His proposition was, to 



discontinue the bounty on the 

 exportation of printed goods. This 

 bounty had grown from a small 

 charge to a verj' large one, 

 amounting upon an average of the 

 last three years, to the sum of 

 308,000/. a circumstance in one 

 respect highly satisfactory, as it 

 shewed the great increase which 

 had taken place in the exporta:tion 

 of those goods, but which also 

 shewed at once that the necessity 

 of granting a bounty to encouracre 

 this exportation had ceased, and 

 that a considerable resource might 

 be derived from its suppression. 

 The printed goods in question, 

 from the improvement of the ma- 

 nufattures and the extensive use 

 of machinery, could now be af- 

 forded much cheaper without the 

 bounty, than thej'^ used formerly to 

 be, even with its assistance. 



The present state of the world 

 with respect to commerce was pe- 

 culiarly favourable to the discon- 

 tinuance of the bounty system. 

 Wherever British manufactures 

 were permitted to enter, their su- 

 periority was universally acknow- 

 ledged ; where they did not find 

 their way, it was not on account 

 of their dearness or inferior qua- 

 lity, but because they were ex- 

 cluded by rigorous prohibitions. 

 Whenever these might cease, the 

 country might again expect to 

 see the British manufactures 

 spreading themselves over the 

 continent without the assistance 

 of bounties. That which it was 

 now proposed to discontinue, 

 amounted to no more than one 

 halfpenny a yard on printed goods 

 of the lowest quality, and three 

 halfpence a yard on the highest ; 

 an amount much within the ordi- 

 nary fluctuations of price from 



accidental 



